Garret the Ferret!

I have a friend named Garret. (OK, my husband has a friend named Garret, and I am just kind of along for the ride.) Garret has made it clear to me that he doesn't like ferrets. Even though his wonderful, gentle, and extremely intelligent son loves them, Garret always has a nasty thing to say about our poor little weasels. It's just a damn shame.

Today, while I was volunteering at the shelter, I came across a recent addition -- Garret the Ferret! Surely my friend could not hate his namesake! Especially such a cute namesake with a little black dot on his nose! So I photographed Garret with my phone and shipped the picture off. (Yep -- that's why the quality is so bad -- it's a phone pic!)

Turns out that when Garret was a child, they used to mock him by yelling, "Garret the Ferret! Garret the Ferret!" Being a child, he did not realize what a very great honor those children were paying him. All he remembers is the silly rhyme that made him sad. So he takes it out on poor helpless weasels by shunning them and putting the hate on. Poor Garret. Poor weasels!

I suggested to my husband that, maybe after 40-odd years, it might be time to put the hate away. I can only hope he passed on that message to Garret. Because, if Garret doesn't stop badmouthing the weasels, I know what I am going to do -- bring a weasel-shaped cake to his summer BBQ with "Garret the Ferret" written on it!